Her Balance | Nikolai x Reader x Darkling

~ Chapter 5 ~

Hiii!! I sincerely apologize for my hiatus! As I said in my other book, college apps just got to be way too much.

However, I have finished so I'm very prepared to get back into it.

Let's get into it.

First Person - Y/n

The entire cavern shook and little rivulets of pebbles clattered down on us.

"Lights out!" I yelled, "Packs off!"

Mal was beside me in an instant. He yanked me away from the falling rock as Zoya stood on my other side.

Everyone shoved their packs against the walls as a kind of padding, then put out the lanterns.

The explosions continued and one ended up particularly close to us. Rocks and soil rained down on our bent heads.

"He couldn't have found us," I whispered to Mal, "Not this quickly."

"What about that thing he can do," replied Mal, "Where he can see you?"

"I did it to him," I replied and Mal looked at me angrily, "Long story. But he can't see much. He wouldn't know these tunnels from what he could see."

"He found us," groaned Sergei, his voice ragged with fear.

"He couldn't have," Zoya protested. "Even the Apparat didn't know where we were headed."

Mal shifted slightly. I heard the smatter of pebbles.

"It's a random attack," he said.

Genya's voice trembled when she whispered, "That cat is bad luck."

"Metan yez," said David. "Marsh gas."

I smelled it a second later, peaty and foul. If there were Inferni above us, a spark would follow and blow us all to bits. Someone started crying.

"Zoya, Nadia, Adrik," I commanded, "send it east."

I was shocked at how calm I sounded. I looked at Mal and he nodded before he slowly began to move, making sure everyone was ok.

I felt Zoya move, then the rush of air as she and the others drove the gas away from us.

"Oh, Saints," Sergei quavered.

"I see flame!" Tolya shouted.

"Send it east," repeated Mal, voice steady.

The whoosh of Squaller wind followed. Dust continued to fall and the wind from the Squallers was sending it everywhere.

We were close to the surface which meant the dust could give our location away.

"Everyone stay still except the Squallers," I stated before I raised my hands.

The shadows were easier to call than the light, and I created a barrier above us. The dust levitated above it like a cloud.

Another explosion hit.

This time the whole tunnel roared with the sound of falling rock. I heard people shouting in the dark. Dust filled my lungs.

"We need light, Y/n," said Mal.

It was a struggle, but I found a thread of sunlight and let it blossom through the tunnel. I kept the shadows up as a barrier with one hand, and used the light with the other.

We were all covered in dust, eyes wide and frightened. I did a quick tally: Mal, Genya, David, Zoya, Nadia, and Harshaw—Oncat tucked into his shirt.

"Tolya?" I shouted.